Portland Observer, September 22,1982 Page 5
Education and technological revolution
by l)r. Matthew Prophet
Superintendent,
Portland Public Schools
A ll ligns point to the fact t Aat in
the next tw enty years this country
w ill experience a technological revo
lu tio n ta r greater than any in our
past.
The students in our schools today
w ill live their lives in a society o f
high speed com m unications, high
technology and computer science.
In order to better prepare s tu
dents to live and succeed in this
changing society, the public schools
must place greater emphasis on pro
viding students with the skills need
ed to get and hold a jo b in the fast-
paced society that is their heritage.
On numerous occasions since I ar
rived in Portland, I have stressed the
need fo r the d is tric t to increase its
emphasis on the whole range o f vo
cational, in d u s tria l, and technical
training and education available to
students in our schools.
In my judgment the truly unsung
programs in the schools today arc
those that could provide the level of
skills essential to students to earn
a living after high school, advanced
technical training and/or college.
In the real world o f the 1980s, vo
cational and technical education, in
a ll o f its d iv e rs ity , may very well
dominate the thrust o f public educa
tion. A ll o f the statistics tell us that
in the 1980s job skills training and
education w ill loom as a dominant
function for the public schools, par
ticularly in the cities.
Please understand, it is in no way
my intent to downgrade strictly aca
demic programs. They are absolute
ly essential and I w ill continue to up
grade their q u a lity throughout the
Portland Public School System, but
the educated student o f the future
should have a balance o f vocational
and academic tra in in g and educa
tion to increase the career options
and opportunities they w ill face.
It is one o f my goals for the future
o f the P ortland P ublic Schools to
m axim ize the o p tio n s fo r a ll s tu
dents, and to better equip them to
fu n ctio n effectively as productive
c o n trib u to rs in our society. To do
this w ill require the support, interest
and p a rtic ip a tio n between the
schools and all o f its publics.
Vocational education has not re
ceived s u ffic ie n t a tte n tio n in the
Portland M etropolitan Area and in
Portland Public Schools during the
past decade and m ore. Program s
have steadily declined in num ber
and quality—often in seeming obliv
ion to the needs o f the local econ
omy. For example, Portland Public
Schools now has electronics p ro
grams in three high schools as op
posed to eight programs ten years
ago— th is, despite the am azing
growth o f the electronics industry in
our area.
D eclin in g e n ro llm e n t, eroded
state and federal support and a be
leaguered national and local econ
omy have been prime villains in de
cline o f vocational education. H ow
ever, other school d is tric ts have
faced these same problem s, and
have emerged w ith stronger p ro
grams and retooled delivery systems
that provide quality programs in the
most cost-efficient manner.
Recent reports show that our aca
demic programs are significant im
provements in teaching students the
basic skills. The recovery o f voca
tional education must be engineered
w ith the same dedication and take
advantage o f this recovery.
Educators over the past two dec
ades have been forced into listening
to vocal advocates from competing
interest groups. The tragedy is that
seldom have these voices been raised
by those in our com m unities w ho
employ people and pay their checks.
It is ironic that (he greatest poten
tial strength o f vocational education
has often been somewhat o f a weak
area in our school system, that being
our relationship w ith our business
and industrial com m unity. Though
we have made gallant attempts to in
volve advisory committees, we have
found any consistent, m eaningful
involvement d iffic u lt to maintain.
We simply must develop a d e liv
ery system for vocational education
in the Portland Schools that closes
these enorm ous gaps and, most
im p o rta n tly , gives fu ll ow nership
for vocational/technical education
to the local business and industrial
community.
I have committed myself to w ork
ing closely with the business and la
bor leaders o f the P o rtla n d area,
and to do my best to m obilize and
focus the support o f in flu e n tia l
heads o f co rp o ra tio n s and sm all
businesses in the Greater P ortland
Area toward im proving the overall
vocational/technical program in our
schools. 1 am confident that this v i
tal task can be accomplished w ithin
a reasonable period o f time.
Now is therefore the time to begin
a comprehensive review o f the exist
ing vocational education delivery
system, w ith a goal to establish
more effective and efficie n t m eth
ods to prepare those students who
so choose, to have salable s k ills
upon high school graduation, while
at the same time contribute toward
m eeting P o rtla n d c o m m u n ity
economic needs.
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Ron Wyden
When Congress voted last week to
override the President's veto o f the
Supplemental Appropriations Hill,
it struck a blow for fairness and
credibility.
For the first time since the Reagan
Adm inistration took office, Con
gress stood up and said no to a bud
get plan that wasn’ t fair. For the
first time in two years, Congress
went toc-to-toe with the President
over the issue o f fairness—and won.
In pushing for Congressional sup
port for his veto, (he President at
tempted to portray the Appropria
tions Hill as a budget-buster. The
facts simply don't support this con
tention. The bill approved by Con
gress asked for $2 billion less than
the President himself had requested
What the President really was up
set about was how Congress spent
the money—not how much it spent.
The bill Congress sent to the Pres
ident called for some $917 m illion
more than the President had re
quested for employment programs
for the elderly, education programs
for the handicapped, loans for col
lege students and extended unem
ployment benefits for the millions
o f Americans who have been
thrown out o f a job by a flagging
economy.
It called for $2.1 billion less in de
fense spending than the President
wanted.
So when the President said he
did n 't like how much we were
spending, he really meant he didn’ t
like how we spent it. It was not real
ly a matter o f cold cash—as the
President would have had the Amer
ican people believe— but a matter o f
priorities, a matter o f choices, a
matter o f how we allocate our re
sources.
As I said in a speech prepared for
floor debate, the President made it
clear in setting forth his request that
he would rather spend for foreign
aid than for elderly employment,
student loans and education for the
handicapped.
He made it clear that he would
rather spend for exotic weaponry
that does not work very well and
would not give us any more security
if it did, than for advances to state
unemployment funds.
Congress, in rejecting the Presi
dent's plea to sustain his veto, made
it clear it does not agree.
Faced with a choice o f whether we
should spend our money to help get
America back on her feet, or to con
tinue to pay for waste, Congress
said no.
T hat’s a victory for American
taxpayers. And it ’ s a good sign for
the future.
★ * * *
★
COME TO OUR
Buchanan seeks office
(Continued from page I column J)
should be dumping that kind o f
money into El Salvador, but it has
no legality and no place on the
county ballot. It's a straw poll f i
nanced with county taxes to sample
public sentiment on a given issue.
I he initiative measure requires some
education on both sides o f the is
sues. The county ballot is for county
business.” Huchanan uses this same
logic to oppose a nuclear freeze
measure on the county ballot.
W ith the demise o f federal funds,
could the county pick up the slack?
"People are willing to support addi
tional funding for essential services
but not for human services pro
grams. People are not willing to tax
themselves any m ore."
Huchanan says the property tax
lim itation measure, ballot measure
#}, is a terrible idea, " , 'm sympa
thetic with people who want to lim it
property taxes but as the public
begins to understand the conse
quences they w ill sec that it is just
not an acceptable solution. I ’ m dead
set against it. A vole for this I '/ i
percent lim itation w ill create havoc
in local government, schools, cities
and counties. If it ’s approved, we
w ill end up voting on a sales lax,
lottery or an increase in the state’ s
income ta x ."
Dennis Huchanan is also opposed
to ballot measure #6, especially the
clause that prevents lobbying by a
county official. " I think it’ s a bad
idea that we cannot retain someone
on staff who supports county inter
ests. We’ve had two big problems in
the county. Historically, the legisla
ture has suid to us that we must pro
vide certain services but they have
not given us the funds to carry these
services out. Hy going down to Sa
lem full-tim e we were able to get the
State to take over the court system.
This saved the local property tax
payers over 15 m illion dollars over
the next five years. You just have to
have people down there who repre
sent your point o f view.”
Why should the voters support
Dennis Buchanan over Gordon
Shadburne? Huchanan says, “ The
voters should support me because o f
my superior performance in office. I
think that I have been able to repre
sent them better and I stay in step
with the progressive traditions in
Oregon. I stand for open and re
sponsible governm ent — one that
meets the needs o f the citizens. I
stand for the progressive goals o f
equal rights and fair treatment for
all our citizens. Just look at my rec
ord: Dennis Huchanan supported
the ERA, the 911 system and pre
serving the Colum bia River Gorge.
My opponent opposed all these.
"A g a in , the record speaks for it
self. I ’ ve done a better job and de
serve voter's support."
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